


Intro to Significant Others

by fruit_loops



Category: Community (TV)
Genre: Cuties, Fluff, Idiots in Love, M/M, Realization
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-03
Updated: 2020-10-03
Packaged: 2021-03-08 01:01:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,756
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26787118
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fruit_loops/pseuds/fruit_loops
Summary: Troy has a boyfriend and the study group is mildly confused because the boyfriend is not Abed.
Relationships: Frankie Dart/Britta Perry, Troy Barnes/Abed Nadir, only a tiny bit - Relationship
Comments: 2
Kudos: 106





	Intro to Significant Others

**Author's Note:**

> im not even joking i was half asleep when this came to me and i just had to write it. it's kinda crappy but whatever. also, this fic is mostly about troy and the study group. okey thanks. *troy's heart eyes at abed*

Jeff, Annie, Britta, Shirley, and Frankie were at a bar a few miles away from campus. Annie had taken a week-long break from her internship at the FBI, while Shirley had flown in from Georgia, clearly excited at the prospect of seeing her found family again. They were all thrilled to see Troy who had just gotten home from his four-year long boat trip on the _Childish Tycoon_. The plan was to wait for Troy in the bar so he has enough time to see his family and take a well-needed nap. All the members of the study group were jumping in their seat, constantly checking their phones for any texts from Troy saying he was here. The corner booth seemed a lot bigger from far away, but now it felt cramped and tight. Especially with everyone tapping their feet and shifting their head from door to door. It wasn't until Annie's scream that they all noticed Troy coming in from the entrance.

Britta crawled over the table as Annie scrambled over Shirley's lap to greet him. Everyone ran towards him. Annie was the first to reach him, wrapping him in a huge bear hug. All the love and affection she was feeling came spilling out as she squeezed Troy even harder. Everyone joined shortly after, with even Jeff slightly placing his arms around Shirley. It wasn't until they started noticing the dirty looks they were receiving from the rest of the customers that they pulled away.

"Hi." Troy timidly mumbled, holding up his hand for a small wave. They made their way back to the table, but not before Annie wrapped Troy in another huge hug. They all slid into the booth, feeling even more cramped than ever with the addition of a new person. It's not like they complained about it though.

"TROY! WE MISSED YOU SO MUCH HOW WAS YOUR BOAT TRIP????" Britta yelled, clearly excited at the prospect of catching up with one of her best friends. They kept in touch over email and Skype, but it wasn't the same as actually talking face to face with him. She missed him. Missed seeing the way his eyes widened and mouth curved after each new story she told him.

"Was it everything you wanted and more?" Annie chimed in, her face lit. Everyone was eyeing Troy like a prize in a claw-machine. They were desperate to hear more about him and his amazing adventures overseas.

"Did you meet anyone special??" Shirley added, batting her eyelashes and turning her head so that her ear was closest to Troy.

"Okay wait. Let me answer these one at a time." Troy said, shifting his head and taking a deep breath. "I missed you guys so much too, you were all I thought about!" Annie and Shirley both "awwwww"ed at this. "It was really great! Except for me being captured by pirates, but that's a story for another time." Jeff and Frankie's eyes both widened. "It was everything I wanted and more. Every country was really beautiful and nice. Some were racist, but I've chosen to ignore that part. And I did meet someone special! And he's a dude."

"I'm sorry, what?" Jeff asked, clearly taken aback from how abrupt everything was. "You like men?"

"Yeah. Since like the middle of the boat trip? And I'm sorry I didn't tell you guys sooner, but this was a conversation I just didn't really want to have over Skype." Troy started scratching at the side of the table, not meeting their faces. "Are you guys mad?"

"What? Of course, not!" Annie quickly added. Her voice was light and full of love and her eyes were shining. "We're all just shocked, but of course we still love you." Annie reached for his hands before placing them in hers. "Right?" She added, placing a pointed look at Shirley.

Shirley gave her a pointed look right back, furrowing her eyebrows at Annie. She finally gave a sigh, before adding, "Yes, we still love you. You know, Jordan came out as gay to me a few months ago. It took me time, but I finally learned to accept it." Shirley said, giving Troy a small smile. "Plus, we all saw it coming." Everyone started nodding in affirmation.

"What?" Troy said, snatching his hands out of Annie's. "How?"

"Well, first off, butt stuff." Jeff added, tipping his glass of scotch towards Troy.

Everyone nodded their heads again and stifled a laugh at Troy's embarrassed face. "Hmph" Troy crossed his arms and sunk into his seat.

"Troy! Those guys may not appreciate you, but I do. I am so glad that you're gay!" Chang said. His face was full of mischief and insanity. "Now we can help each other get laid! You can be my wingman!"

"Who invited Chang??" Troy asked, lifting his hands in confusion.

"He was here when we came." Jeff clarified.

There was a moment of silence before Annie asked him her question. "So... What about that special someone you met? Tell us about him!"

Troy jumped at the change of subject. "Yeah, he's really nice and kind and funny and loves movies! Andhe'sactuallycomingnowifthat'sokay."

"What?" Jeff asked, his eyes growing wide. "He's coming now? He told us he couldn't make it!"

"Wait, you know him?"

Everyone at the table tilted their heads at him, of course they would know Abed?

"Oh, here he is!" Troy turned his body and lifted his head, before waving his hand and signaling him to come over. A tall, lanky redhead came over, with freckles strewn all across his face. He was wearing a red plaid over a white t-shirt and black jeans. He had a large smile on his face and starting walking over to where Troy was sitting.

"Guys, meet Adam!" 

The study group was silent.

"Hi, I'm Adam." Adam added, somewhat sheepishly. He had never met these people before, yet they were staring at him like he was a circle shape in a triangle hole. Were they homophobic? Prejudiced against redheads?

"Guys, say something." Troy whispered, out of the corner of his mouth. Adam still heard him. Troy was always terrible at whispering.

"You're not Abed."

"JEFF." Annie sharply turned her head, staring at him incredulously. 

"What, we were all thinking it." 

"Yeah, but you're not supposed to say it." Britta whispered kind of loudly.

"Wait, who's Abed?" Adam said, furrowing his eyebrow and giving Troy a look of confusion.

"Troy! You didn't tell him about Abed??" Annie shrieked, flailing her hands in the air.

"It never came up!" Troy said, raising his hands and shaking his head.

Annie gave a humph and slumped back into her seat.

Despite the chattering of customers around them, an awkward silence filled the air. Silence because of someone who wasn't even physically in the bar.

"So, how did you two meet?" Frankie added, clearly wanting the fill the empty space. While this was Frankie and Troy's first time meeting in person, this was hardly the first Troy heard of her. She was quite a popular subject among the other study group members. Especially Britta. Britta talked about her constantly. At first the study group talked about her because they hated her, but hate slowly turned into love, and love slowly turned into them questioning her sexuality almost daily. From all the study group's ramblings, Troy had already felt as if he knew her as well as the other members did.

"Oh uh, he was studying abroad in Spain when I met him." Troy said, wanting to escape the awkward silence as well.

"Yeah, we met at this gorgeous beach in Madrid. It was a real meet-cute." Adam added, lifting his finger in the air the same way Abed did.

"Oh, that's nice!" Shirley interjected, clasping her fingers together and holding it next to her face.

"We actually bonded over _Cougar Town_!" Adam said.

"Oh, that's-that's nice?" Shirley tilted her head. He was starting to become really familiar.

"You do not understand how livid I was when they canceled the show. I didn't leave my house for a full week! I mean, why cancel the greatest show alive!" 

"Okay, I do not need to hear this speech again, babe. I'm gonna get us some drinks." Troy said, sliding out of the booth and walking towards the bar. 

"Alright, now that he's gone," Adam said, his face inching towards the table and his hands spread out, "Who's Abed?"

"Oh Adam," Annie added. "I think this is a conversation you should really have with Tro--"

"ABED WAS TROY'S LOVER BEFORE HE LEFT US ON HIS BOAT RIDE ACROSS THE WORLD." A slightly intoxicated Britta interjected, spraying spit everywhere in the process.

Annie sighed, rubbing her temples together. "Damn it, Britta. And not lover, best friend. We don't know about lover."

"Come on, have you seen the way they looked at each other? They were definitely boning." Chang added, flicking his wrists.

The study group broke out into an argument, each one bickering over whether Abed and Troy were truly dating or "just friends".

Jeff stuck out his hand before bringing his fingers to a close, shutting up the study group immediately. "They were friends. We don't have any evidence arguing the former." Spoken like a true lawyer.

"I DISAGREE. I DATED TROY. ALL HE EVER TALKED ABOUT WAS ABED."

"That's just cause they're stupid and haven't realized their feeling for each other yet."

Everyone nodded in agreement at this. They are very stupid.

"Wow." Adam chimed in. The group quickly turned their heads. They forgot he was there. "Should I be worried?" He playfully laughed, expecting reassurance or simply, the word "no."

No one was making eye contact.

"Is it that bad? Are they that in love?" He whispered, nervously tousling his red hair.

"Yeah..." Annie added, grimacing her face and giving him a look of pity. "They filmed a Kickpuncher sex scene together."

"Troy kept following him around like a lost puppy when Abed dressed as Jesus for that one movie he was doing." Britta added. Shirley tensed up at the thought. "In all fairness he was pretty hot."

"I once asked Troy what his favorite color was and he said the color of Abed's eyes." Chang chimed in.

"Wait is this all true? And it took you all this long to realize it?" Frankie interrupted. Surely, they should have noticed way sooner.

"When it got really cold in our apartment, they both cuddled next to each other on the bottom bunk of a bunkbed they both shared. They also had a room specifically dedicated to roleplaying." 

"They spent an entire week trying to woo the librarian, but when she finally chose Troy, he got upset because he didn't understand how she could have passed on Abed. And then they slow danced in the hallway for the remainder of the night." Britta said, her face smushed against the palm of her hand, and other twirling her hair.

"Not to mention that their entire apartment was covered in pictures of the two of them." Shirley added. "We really should have noticed sooner."

"To put it mildly, anywhere Abed was, that's where Troy was. And every time Abed even so much as breathed, Troy was all-over him, staring at him with such a pathetic look of love you'd think there were hearts coming out of him." Jeff clarified, taking another sip of scotch.

"Oh. This is embarrassing then." Adam said, his face suddenly matching the color of his hair.

"Sorry." Jeff added empathetically.

"Yeah, we're not telling you this because we don't like you or anything." Annie said.

"No, no, of course not!" Everyone added in. Except Chang who gave a sharp "yes".

"We just don't want to see you hurt like Britta." Annie leaned in and put up her hand as a barrier. "She was another casualty of this war."

"I'm right here, Annie."

"Oh, um, should I just go then?" Adam said, lifting up one eyebrow. He looked very uncomfortable.

"Yes." Chang said. "Go." Before proceeding to bark at him like a dog.

"Okay, I have a seven and a seven for me, and a Bloody Mary for youuuuhey!" Troy said, carrying two drinks in his hands. His brow was furrowed and his head was clearly tilted. "Where's Adam? I just spent 15 minutes and $8 on this cocktail! Where is he?"

No one was meeting his eyes.

"Guys," Troy said more forcefully, placing the drinks on the table with a loud _thud_. "Where's Adam?"

"We sort of, ran him off?" Britta said, giving him a half smile.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU RAN HIM OFF?"

"We just told him about Abed and he ran away on his own totally unprompted!" Chang added, shaking his head and shrugging his shoulders.

"YOU BARKED AT HIM CHANG." Annie said, turning her face and crossing her arms.

"YOU TOLD HIM ABOUT ABED??" Troy said, slightly freaking out. He was shaking his head and bending his legs. "WHY WOULD YOU TELL HIM ABOUT ABED?" 

"Because you obviously still like him Troy!" Annie added in.

"No, I don't! What makes you think that?"

"That boy was an exact replica of Abed." Shirley said, raising her eyebrow.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Troy declared. He raised his head and crossed his arms. "Wait. You guys don't have a problem with me dating a guy, you only have a problem with me dating a guy that isn't Abed?"

"Not when you're clearly still in love with him, Troy." Britta chimed in, her resting on the table.

"I am not! You take that back!"

"Look it's Abed!" Jeff said sarcastically, pointing towards the entrance.

"WHERE?" Troy said, jerking his head towards his direction. His eyes scanned for every entrance before realizing that Jeff was joking and turned back to face the study group. They were all giving him Annie's judgmental stare, with a look of "seriously?"

"That doesn't prove anything! He's still my best friend, of course I want to see him! And wait! You guys still got rid of Adam! What the hell!"

"Oh please, that relationship wasn't going to work. You looked at him the same way you used to look at Britta." Jeff replied, leaning back into his seat.

"Still here, guys."

"How did I look at Britta and Adam?"

"Like you really liked them, but they were only temporary replacements for the one true love in your heart." Annie's voice grew several shades softer, giving Troy a sweet smile.

"Ugh, Annie. Could you make that any less sappy." Britta groaned, slumping into her chair.

"I agree with Britta, that was way too Grey's Anatomy."

"Shut up Chang. Your last idea was to murder. Why are you even here?"

"I'm always here."

"Wait okay, still," Troy said, spreading his hands out and shaking his head. "I don't know what you're talking about. Abed is my best friend. He's always going to be my best friend. And plus, he's straight."

The entire table burst into laughter at that. 

"Hey, no, what??" Troy exclaimed, clearly confused. "He's not straight?"

"Hell no. He hooked up with Pavel almost every week for the first year." Chang replied.

"Are you serious??" 

"When I was living with him for a week, I walked in and I saw him having sex with Jenny Adams and white Abed." Jeff scoffed at the memory, laughing at how crazy the study group was that one time they tried to pair Abed up with that girl.

"Why didn't I know about this?"

"Troy, no offense, but you're not the most observant person in the world." Britta replied. 

"What do you mean? I am very observant!"

"It took you six weeks to realize I was dating Frankie."

"I just thought you guys were super close! This is not my fault. Whatever, even still, we're best friends. And Abed probably wants to keep it that way. He probably doesn't even like me!"

Frankie snorted. "I don't like to get involved, but he definitely does like you."

"How do you-how do you know?"

"You could hear it in his voice every time he said your name."

"He said my name? What did he say?" Troy said, his eyes and smile wide. The love creeping into his voice.

"Well he didn't talk about you a lot. Probably because it hurt him too much."

"WHY WOULD YOU TELL ME THAT???" Troy shrieked. His mouth was agape and he started shaking his hands.

"Ughhhhh." Troy slid his head into his palms. "I have to book a plane ticket."

**Author's Note:**

> okay thanks for reading ur amazing! <3


End file.
